Here is a random story I did a few years ago when I was bored.
The weather forecast had been on the headlines for many days. The citizens of Winnipeg had been warned about the possible storm, but they were ignoring it by thinking about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday instead. The clouds had been mocking people, making them worried without any consequences. The rain began as icy droplets of water, and they soon turned into hail. However, it didn’t stop there. They continuously grew until they became fatal, denting lamp posts, crashing windows, and injuring people who decided to pass by the horrible weather. Amidst the chaos, Leonard was called to a crime scene.
The place was a mess. The walls were smeared with blood. A singular light bulb was all that lit the dark hallway. Every other floor tile squeaked when they were stepped on. Black fibers and red umbrellas were all over the place. When Leonard looked ahead, he saw a window. He opened it and peered through the opening. Hidden among the blades of grass and many schip laurel bushes were many glass shards. Up the corridor, there were two other men in conversation.
“Leonard!” Leonard looked forward and saw a familiar face. It brought back nostalgia. “Do you remember me?”
Leonard grinned. “How could I forget you, Brennan! After all of the years through high school! I didn’t have a chance to say this before we split our ways because of work, but I appreciate you for being a friend. It means a lot.”
Brennan turned red, but he smiled along with Leonard. He twirled his brown untidy hair around. Beside him, a tall lean police officer was busy taking notes. A camera was pinned to his chest and Leonard noticed a microphone beside it as well. There was a handgun strapped to the side of his right leg.
“Are you working for the RCMP?” Brennan asked Leonard.
“Yes,” Leonard answered. “I am part of the IHIT team, which is why I am here. How are you involved in this crime?”
“The victim is my aunt, Leah, and she’s been murdered! Please help me find the murderer.”
The police officer finally finished his notes and turned to Leonard. “Hello, Detective Leonard,” he said. “We have already collected the evidence and sent it to a forensics laboratory.”
“That’s good,” Leonard said, satisfied. He paced around the corner and saw a body wrapped in a blanket. Forensic doctors were crowding around the body, and there was a death certificate on the floor. It was clear that Leah was dead. “Officer, I don’t think I know your name yet.”
“Officer Jeffery Jant,” he said, “but I prefer Officer Jant.”
“Pleased to meet you.” Leonard shook hands and turned away. “Brennan, what exactly did you see?”
“I was upstairs, taking a nap to recover from my night shift. All of a sudden, I heard a scream. I rushed down, but by the time I got here, Leah was on the floor. I think I saw a black shadow in the yard that time, but I didn’t see it clearly enough!” Brennan cried. “Looks like she’s been stabbed based on the wound marks.”
Leonard turned to Jant. “Who are your main suspects?”
“Well, according to many trustworthy data providers, 43% of all murderers were all related to the victims,” he said. “This case might make the number go higher. Leah’s son, Mark, is one of our main suspects. The other prime suspect is another man named Timothy. Before the murder and the storm, he was around the area.”
“Where are they?”
“The suspects? They are both controlled in our police station. Brennan is on the suspect list too, even though he is unlikely to be the murderer. Leah’s neighbors reported he was very close to his aunt and took really good care of her. He was in the same house.”
Leonard made up his mind, and told his assistant while checking his watch, “I will check the crime scene more closely, and later, I want to interview Mark. Please arrange a meeting with him at 7 o’clock. Retrieve any footage if possible.”
Leonard began from where Leah was. Surrounded by doctors and nurses, Leah was flat on the kitchen floor in a massive pool of blood. According to the officials, there were three wounds; one in the neck, one in the chest, and one in the abdomen. The doctors’ report said that Leah died of excessive blood loss. The wound in the abdomen was classified as a stab. It was 15 centimeters deep and 2.5 centimeters wide. The wound on the neck was not big, but it was right on the carotid artery. Blood was sprayed on the ceiling, walls, and cabinets, and no lethal weapons were found. When Leonard peeked through the broken window, there were roughly three times more glass pieces found in the yard. The murderer probably broke the window from the inside and ran away, he thought.
The storm finally stopped. Before going back to his office, Leonard decided to take a walk around the neighborhood to find any possible clues. The first thing he noticed was that it was quiet. Usually, after a crime happened, news would spread quickly and people would lock themselves home and only go outside once the local news said everything was fine. What was odd was that a woman was talking on the phone. She was wearing a pink dirty shirt, and her pants were torn.
It was Leonard’s instinct that she had something to do with the murder. Up ahead, the woman looked surprised and seemed to be talking, apparently excited.
He sped up, hoping to hear some of the conversation. The woman turned around, and a small beep told Leonard that the phone was off. “Hello,” she said. Her voice was cold and uninviting. “Why are you here?”
“I’m trying to solve a mystery,” Leonard answered. He decided, on the spot, that it was best not to lie; after all, there wasn’t any other way he could bring the topic up if he did. “Have you heard about anyone named Leah?”
The cold woman seemed uncomfortable. “No,” she said hesitantly. The woman said some random words, and as Leonard was comprehending them, she ran away. Leonard shouted and sprinted after her, but the headstart she had was too much and Leonard lost her around the corner. Cursing, Leonard went back to the police station; he didn’t want to be late for his meeting.
Back at the office, Mark was pulled through into a doorless police station to be interviewed by Leonard. Behind the desk were two police officers, and one was Jant. There was a seat in front of them for Mark. Leonard entered the room after the three did. “Hello, I’m Leonard, and I am trying to get information about the murder. What’s your name?” Leonard asked. He tried to control his frustration and not direct it to the innocent people around him.
“I’m Mark Murthi. And about the murder…” Mark said to himself quietly. His voice trailed off.
“I heard you didn’t get along with your mother Leah. I would like to know more about this.”
“We had a few arguments recently. I asked for financial support from her because she got all my dad’s money after he passed away. ”
So this guy is poor, and Leah is rich, Leonard thought. There has to be something behind this. Unconsciously realizing he was standing, he hastily looked for a chair in the cramped space. As Leonard sat down, he noticed Mark shifting around uncomfortably. He looked away from Leonard’s sharp gaze, his eyes mildly unfocused. “Am I gonna have to be put in prison?” he asked hesitantly. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Not yet,” Officer Jant replied. “We only do it if we think it’s necessary.”
Leonard, not wanting to get off-topic, interrogated, “what were you doing during that time?”
“You know how I’m poor, right?” Mark spoke. “Before the storm, I had the opportunity to buy a lot of umbrellas for only ten dollars, and I couldn’t miss the amazing chance. Of course, I was trying to sell them during the storm, but it was hailing most of the time and my plan was ruined. There was only one nice woman who was kind enough to buy two, but that was it.”
Leonard’s furrowed brow was shown to Mark. “So you were trying to earn money. But,” Leonard asked, confused, “you were her son! If you were hoping for a loan, why didn’t you get one? Why did she make you have to struggle and drown in the debt you have?”
Mark smiled sadly. “I’m sorry I hadn’t said this yet,” he said. “Leah never bothered to answer my pleas. She claimed that everything was a learning experience, and she simply let me suffer through endless years. As a stepson, I would get yelled at whenever I asked for money. I think she even ended up removing me from her will because she was so angry, but I can’t be sure because she never showed it to me. I even offered to pay her 10% interest, but she still refused.”
“Was there any physical violence between you and Leah?”
“Of course not! My family might not have helped me, but I know that everything would work for me in the end. I just can’t see it yet.”
“Tell me more about the fact that you are Leah’s stepson.”
Mark frowned, and he started to miserably recall his memories. When he was only five years old, his mother died of liver cancer. His father married Leah a year later. However, Leah couldn’t have a baby of her own, so she was often angry at Mark. She thought Mark was cursing her. Leah liked her nephew, Brennan, so she invited him to come over very frequently.
The next day, Leonard thought everything would go the same way as it was with Mark when he interviewed the next suspect, Timothy. When he was brought to the station, Timothy was, just like the police had described, in black and wearing sunglasses. Leonard observed the anxious look on him as he started to question him.
“I know what you are going to ask,” Timothy spoke first, just like Mark did. “I was a silent companion, one that wouldn’t brag or seek unwanted attention. I got arrested for being a suspect. I am innocent! I am innocent!! How many times do you want me to say that?” He was louder with every word.
“Calm down, Timothy. Don’t worry. Everybody is innocent unless proven guilty.” Leonard asked Timothy about the reason why he always wore black.
“Black helps me to work without anyone disturbing me, and it just happens to be my work uniform. Of course, silence is always better than speech,” he said.
“Timothy, were you friends with Leah?”
“Not exactly. I was inside here and there once in a while, and I knew her pretty well, but I wouldn’t say we were friends.”
Leonard found that very confusing. “Why did you go to her house frequently?”
“I am an electrical technician. I helped her take care of her house. I did this in my free time, and she paid me in cash. She called me to change the kitchen lights just a couple of days before the murder.”
“What did you see or hear near Leah’s house,” Leonard inquired, “around the crime time?”
Timothy paused, and Leonard could see the gears working in his brain to recall his own memories. “I was on my way to check the new kitchen lights that day. Leah said one of them flashed abnormally. When I approached the front door, I heard a scream,” he finally said. “I tried to enter to help, but Leah’s house was full of security systems, and I couldn’t enter. I was unable to do anything, at least until the police came and broke through the door. The slaughterer was gone.”
Leonard stood still, thinking. Timothy seemed to be staring at him, but it was impossible to tell because of his sunglasses. “I think that’s enough for now,” Leonard said. “I’ll interview you another time.”
“Hopefully you don’t need to. My bail application had been approved and I am going home this afternoon.”
The forensics lab report came back. Black fibers were found on the victim’s clothes, and they matched samples from Timothy’s jacket. All the blood samples only belonged to the victim. The footprints found inside the room belonged to either Mark, Timothy or Brennan. Leonard requested to review the front door camera recordings.
Leonard could recognize Mark standing with a lot of umbrellas during the storm. A woman was approaching him. For a while, they seemed to be talking. Then, they exchanged money and umbrellas. The woman was wearing a pink shirt! That’s the woman I saw, Leonard recognized. After about fifteen minutes, there was a scream, and Mark ran out of the view. A few seconds later, Timothy showed up approaching the front door. Leonard zoomed in and saw that Timothy was carrying a bag. He zoomed in even more, trying to find some blood marks on Timothy, but failed.
Leonard summarized that Mark wasn’t the one who murdered Leah based on the recordings. Timothy also showed up in the video, but it was late. Leonard thought that he should search all of Timothy’s belongings and pay close attention to him. Just before he was going to call his team, somebody knocked on his door.
“Brennan requested to talk to you, Detective Leonard.”
“Sure, I almost forgot about him. I should have let him know that he can go home on bail. I’ll go see him.”
Surprisingly, when being offered the idea of going home on bail, Brennan refused. “I just would like to talk to my lawyer, Joseph.” Brennan talked in a very cold manner that reminded Leonard of the woman who ran away.
Leonard thought Brennan was angry at him, “I am sorry that you are on the suspect list, Brennan. Once we figure this out, you will be completely free. I know it’s disturbing.”
At the same time, not too far away, Timothy had just paid his bail. He ran away from the police, eager to experience freedom at last before his court trial. When he was peacefully about to enter a restaurant, he instinctively felt something was wrong. Something was going to disturb him, but what was it going to be?
Timothy carefully peeked around the building. He was instantly blasted in the stomach. Gasping for breath and shocked by the incident, he was soon on the ground, wincing in pain. What just happened? he thought, puzzled. He would have to call the ambulance. However, his screams were futile. Nobody seemed to be entering or exiting the restaurant, and loud music drowned everything. Just as Timothy thought all hope was lost, a man came. “Please,” he moaned.
It was the wrong person to ask for help, and to Timothy, it was likely the same person who shot him in the first place. The man held up a gun and shot Timothy in the arm, and then in the leg. Timothy was left on the ground to struggle.
When Leonard had walked about a block away from the station, he heard a screaming cry. He ran to the source and eventually found Timothy. Phoning the emergency line as fast as he could, Leonard was worried he wouldn’t be able to get the information he still needed.
On the news, a woman was holding a microphone, talking to the camera. “After talking with the medical care service, the police officers have reported that a man named Timothy Smith has been shot in the stomach, arm, and leg. Timothy is currently in the hospital to recover, and he awaits his court case in a few weeks.”
When Leonard went back to his office, Brennan was talking to lawyer Joseph. Leonard grabbed a cup of coffee and joined his assistant to watch the monitor screen. Joseph was talking about Leah’s will. Leonard moved closer and stared at Brennan’s face. There was a glimpse of a smile. Evidently, he was trying to hide his joy.
“I need to see the will!” Leonard yelled through the sealed door. “How come I didn’t know it existed?!”
“Because Joseph just brought it in!” he heard.
On the will, Leah wrote that she gave Brennan all of the money that she had. It was witnessed and signed by Lawyer Joseph on September 18, just three days before the murder.
It was a few weeks later, and the court case began. Timothy looked, not worried, but desperate to get the case over with and make sure that everyone knew he was completely innocent. As the judge also entered through the doors behind him, the court clerk called, “Order in the court! Her Honour Judge Stephanie presiding.” Everyone in the courtroom stood, their eyes on the judge.
“Everyone may be seated,” Stephanie said, and there was a period when everyone shuffled around to sit down again.
“The case of the Crown versus Timothy, Your Honour,” the Court Clerk stated.
“Thank you. Are all parties present?” the judge asked. The Crown and Defense lawyers were both there.
“Timothy Smith, please rise to hear the charge.”
“Timothy Smith, you are charged that on, or about, September 21st, 2021, you murdered a woman, Leah Caddel, in her house,” the Court Clerk said. “How do you plead?”
Timothy replied, “not guilty!” The prosecutor called his first witness, Brennan.
“I assure you Timothy was the one,” Brennan said after a few minutes. “There were black fibers at the crime scene, and Timothy’s jacket matched exactly with it. I had also seen him leaping out of the window after the murder.” That sentence struck Leonard. Brennan had claimed he only saw a shadow in the yard before. That didn’t seem entirely truthful.
The crown counsel presented Timothy’s backpack and everything inside it. There was a knife, which could have been the lethal weapon. However, the knife was only 6 centimeters long. The defense lawyer said it was nearly impossible to make the large wounds found on Leah with such a small knife. Additionally, no traces of blood were found on it.
“There was no evidence that Timothy broke into the house on September 21. He tried to enter the front door after the crime happened, but it was impossible. The trace of his black fibers could be left when he went to install the kitchen lights. How do you explain this, Brennan?” The defense lawyer asked during cross-examination.
“He broke the window and came in through it. There was plenty of time for him to fake innocence at the front door,” Brennan said.
Some spectators in the back started to whisper. The defense team needed some time to discuss their evidence and details, so they called to stop there since it was already the end of the day.
“Everyone,” Ava began, “It is already five o’clock in the afternoon. We are pausing the court case for now. It is scheduled for a week later.”
Brennan went to talk to Leonard right after the case.
“How did Timothy get off?” Brennan started the conversation in exasperation as they exited the room.
“I think Timothy didn’t do it. It was the only explanation when everyone found out that the wound didn’t belong to any of Timothy’s knives, including the one found in his backpack; the wound was too deep for Timothy’s short ones. What I’m wondering is who shot Timothy, if it wasn’t himself,” Leonard said. “I hope the murderer will confess what he did and ask for a less severe sentence.”
“Maybe Timothy is hiding the knife somewhere else. He must be the one! Everybody thought so today.”
“Brennan, did you know that we could tell if the window glass got broken from inside or outside?”
Brennan froze, his face instantly turning pale. “I need to talk to Joseph,” he stuttered.
“Fine. Brennan, I am trying to help you, but I’ll be watching. Don’t let me down.” Brennan hurried off to talk to Joseph again.
Leonard went back to the monitor screen again. Brennan was saying, “I am in trouble, there’s a singular clue that can destroy us! Please help me.”
“You were too eager to answer the questions. I didn’t even have a chance to object to anything. Don’t worry, I will take care of it, or at least, we will. Do you want to apply for bail now?”
“Yes, I can’t wait to end this case.”
Leonard was completely disappointed and astounded. As an old friend, he thought Brennan would realize his mistakes! He was turning to the dark side, being enveloped by the thoughts of evil and greed. Couldn’t there be more kindness in the world? Leonard had given Brennan a chance to change for the better. He blew the chance away. Now it wasn’t the time for another opportunity to be wasted. Leonard felt sorry for Brennan since he was no longer going to have his friend from high school. He ran out of the room and spotted Timothy.
“Timothy,” Leonard chatted randomly while looking around, “can you wait here on the sidewalk? I need to do something, and I’ll be right back.”
“I thought the case was paused and that I was free, for at least a week, with nothing else related to me anymore,” Timothy said, “but all right.”
When Leonard did get out of sight, however, he hid behind a tree and quickly sent signals to his team. He would need a lot of support for his plan to work. Patiently, he waited, and soon enough, the police were all set as they planned.
“We hid our car to mask the trap,” they said in a low voice.
“Good,” replied Leonard. “If everything goes well, then the case will be over by this night.”
They left Timothy completely puzzled. A few minutes later, Brennan showed up and walked up to Timothy. “What are you doing here?” Brennan asked.
“Anything wrong with standing on the sidewalk?” Timothy asked.
“Well…” Brennan said. “I didn’t succeed last time, but not this one.” Brennan pulled out a rifle and aimed it at Timothy. The hiding police officers charged. One tackled Brennan to the ground as he shot. The bullet flew into the sky, and in the distance, a squirrel squeaked. The other officer held Brennan at gunpoint, and Timothy was at the point of taking something from his bag, but he forgot his only weapon had been taken away because of the court case. Brennan elbowed a police officer in the face and sped off. By the time they caught up, Brennan was in a car, driving straight at them. The two police officers and Timothy only barely got out of the way. When Leonard saw Brennan, he leapt onto the car, and he was on top of the front windshield, making Brennan unable to see where he was driving. He abruptly crashed into a street lamp and the car was on fire. Everyone stopped to stare, expecting Brennan to surrender and go to prison without a fight, but Brennan drove on, simultaneously putting the fire out.
“Quick! To the police car!” one officer said. “Timothy and Leonard, wait here. We don’t want you to get involved with this.” The police car sped off, and the street was empty again.
“What are we going to do?” Leonard asked.
Timothy was thinking, his eyes blazing with the desire to act. “We are sitting ducks right now! Come on.” They followed the sounds of the sirens, and as they approached downtown Winnipeg, the sounds grew. By the time they got there, everything was over. Many civilians were watching. Some seemed excited and were taking pictures; others looked worried.
“Move along,” they heard. “We caught the murderer, everything is under control…”
“Leonard,” Timothy said, panting, “now that I’m thinking properly again, were you going to use me as bait for someone to kill me?!?!”
“If you knew you would never do it, but we planned well and made sure you were safe,” Leonard said. “On the bright side, we found the true culprit! Of course, it was just a matter of confirming it. I suspected Brennan from the start. Sorry,” he added. Everyone looked at him, including the police.
“How?” they asked.
“Let me explain,” Leonard said. “Imagine a greedy man, so greedy he would even kill his aunt for money. He convinced his aunt to get rid of her son on her will and then include himself. Then, during a storm, he would put umbrellas to frame the son and break the glass to fake a break-in through the window. However, there was more glass outside since it was broken from the inside. It could only be a break-out, not break-in. Brennan said too much and made me piece the puzzles together.”
“Who shot Timothy the first time then?” asked Officer Jant. “It couldn’t be Brennan.”
“After everybody suspected Timothy instead, Brennan would have hastily wanted him to die so that the case could not be investigated more and would be closed, making him free. He didn’t want to be suspicious, so he asked his accomplice to do it. It must be Joseph. Brennan even refused bail to make alibi, ” Leonard said, “and now, right after Timothy got off, Brennan would have wanted to complete it desperately, and he would try to shoot Timothy.”
They were reflecting upon their actions when Officer Jant claimed he saw some stranger had just left the scene. After calling for support, they spotted Joseph running away. Leonard, Timothy and Jant joined to help. A few minutes later they heard a helicopter roaring in the distance. “The man jumped into the Red River,” somebody reported through Jant’s walkie-talkie. “We caught him!”
It was a few months later, and Brennan was in court. Joseph was absent. “Brennan, you are charged that on, or about, September 21st, 2021, you murdered your aunt, Leah Caddel, in her house. In addition, you are charged with 2 counts of attempted murder of Timothy Smith on October 1, 2021 and on November 9, 2021,” the Court Clerk said. “How do you plead?”
“Not guilty,” Brennan replied. “I was still in jail on October 1.”
“You and your lawyer Joseph planned it. Video footage was played. You two were talking normally, but your fingers were moving. A sign language expert confirmed the message. It said, ‘Kill Tim, and the case is over. Half the money to you.’” The prosecutor looked smug. “Your Honour, I wish to prove the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I will start by calling up a police officer who contributed to the arrest of Brennan.” The police swore to tell the truth, and he sat down on the witness seat.
“I want to begin by submitting a body-worn camera involving Brennan attempting to kill Timothy after the court case.” The police officer pulled out a tiny camera, walked up to the Court Clerk, and left it there.
“Officer,” the prosecutor said once he sat down, “is there any other evidence that you would like to submit before I start asking questions?”
“Yes. I managed to retrieve the knife that murdered Leah. It was safely hidden in the house, but a careful search found it clogged in a toilet tank.” He brought out a 7-inch copper knife. “There are fingerprints belonging to Brennan, and traces of blood DNA belonging to Leah,” he said. Once again, he stood up and placed the knife on the table. Sitting down again, he began a complete speech about the woman that Leonard had met.
“She is related to Brennan, or is his girlfriend,” the officer was saying enthusiastically. “She was desperate for money, and the same for Brennan. She helped Brennan to do the crime by faking the crime scene with umbrellas pointing towards Leah’s son first. She also helped take Brennan’s bloody clothes away right after the crime happened.” Every sentence he said confirmed Leonard’s theory. The members of the jury were nodding their heads in understanding. Things did not look good at all for Brennan. “She has been arrested. We also found her fingerprints on the umbrellas in the crime scene. A bloody shirt with both Brennan’s and Leah’s DNA on it was found in her apartment. She pleaded guilty and begged us for a lighter punishment.”
When it was the defense’s turn, it was instantly hopeless for them. They didn’t have any evidence to back up Brennan’s alibis and excuses. In the end, the jury unanimously figured that it was Brennan and he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Crown and Defence, do you have any suggestions for an appropriate sentence?” the judge asked.
“Yes, Your Honour,” the prosecutor said. “Brennan is a threat to society and should be locked up in prison for life, with no parole for 25 years. We also ask for 100 hours of community service to help him relieve the dangerous thoughts in his head. He is insanely mentally deranged right now.”
The defense lawyer stood up. “Your Honour, I wish for Brennan to have a sentence of 20 years with parole after 10 years. After all, I hope everyone realizes what a bad position that Brennan was in. How can you have so many people depending on you for money and not do something in desperation? Please, judge, have mercy upon this innocent soul!”
“Very well,” the judge said, dazed. After a few minutes, she spoke again. “Brennan Whitlock, please stand for your sentence. You have been found guilty of murdering your aunt, Leah Caddel, and attempting to murder a man, Timothy Smith, not once, but twice. I sentence you to prison for life with no parole for 30 years. You also lost all the money you gained from Leah’s will and you have to repay everything to her son.
“The case is now adjourned. Order in the Court.”
Every contact left a trace. The mystery was solved, and justice had been given to the innocent people.
